Julie Benz has bounced back from her shocking Dexter departure with a major role on Desperate Housewives.

Sources confirm to me exclusively that Benz — whose character, Rita, succumbed to the most horrific bubble bath in television history in last month’s Dexter finale — has been cast in the recurring role of Debbie, a stripper with a heart of gold and a Masters degree in education. When Susan offers her the chance to transition into a more legitimate career, Deb jumps at it.

Benz is booked for at least three episodes, the first of which is scheduled to air in February.

Thoughts? Happy Benz’ career didn’t die along with Rita? Think she’ll fit in on Wisteria Lane? Sound off below!

For all of you Dexter fans that think the season is suined because of this one thing, you don’t know the writers very well. There are so many plot twists in season 4 that season 5 is going to rock!

Monica

Mon 01/04/10 1:49 PM

Seriously! a spoiler alert would have been nice.Season 4 is ruined for me now.

JC

Mon 01/04/10 2:06 PM

Come on!! Not only is it a spoiler, but now I don’t even need to read your witty comments in the article after that headline – I think you meant to write: Exclusive: ‘Desperate Housewives’ revives ‘Dexter’ casualty[PERIOD!]

Wanda

Mon 01/04/10 2:13 PM

Get over it……..the season is awesome and the spoiler still does not ruin the show. I read the spoiler on Yahoo news and the season was still amazing !!!! View on !!!

catholicdatematch

Mon 01/04/10 3:23 PM

She should do great on the show

ej

Mon 01/04/10 9:16 PM

yeah that sux..I avoid all Dexter posts and now this..I’m pissed

Austin Mexon

Mon 01/04/10 10:41 PM

It is a given that spoilers are revealed here, this certainly is not the place for you if you want to be surprised.

Brian

Tue 01/05/10 10:04 AM

Yes… while I certainly consider this a high-class problem, it would seriously piss me off if I had not already seen Dexter season 4. This is a phenomenon that people just don’t seem to get these days. Almost EVERYONE time shifts. Please don’t reveal key plot twists in the headline of an article. And please at a minimum put some disclaimer at the beginning of your article about the spoilers contained. Ugh! This seriously pisses me off and I already watched season 4..

jp

Tue 01/05/10 11:17 AM

I only occasionally get to watch dexter so trust me that you still need to see at least the last two eps of it – even knowing what happens doesn’t spoil how well it was done…

Linda

Tue 01/05/10 12:56 PM

I agree!! I’m only in the midst of Season 2 on Bravo in Canada!

ej

Wed 01/06/10 1:54 PM

Austin..so I shouldn’t go on ew.com at all..that makes little sense if any..they just shouldn’t put it in the headline

No Boobs McGee

Wed 01/06/10 2:23 PM

Um… I don’t watch Dexter and still know the season ended. For those of you who watch but did not know, I admire your media black out skills.

Celia

Mon 01/04/10 4:05 PM

I know!! She fits right in! I love it! I’m just trying to figure out how Susan meets a stripper??

I believe the “too soon” was a reference to the bubble bath rather than the DH casting…

Johnification

Mon 01/04/10 8:44 AM

Ugh, dammit, Ausiello! Dexter isn’t on iTunes yet! I’ve been successfully dodging season 4 finale spoilers for weeks and then, boom, futile with that headline. I guess I was asking for it by not purchasing Showtime, though, right?

Since the 90s she’s pretty much been that face you recognized probably didn’t become a big name until her role as Darla and of course now as the sweet now dead Rita. I am behind on Dexter with no Showtime anymore but let me know, did she find out about Dex, I hope not, it will be a lot better if she didn’t. Great for Julie, I may watch DH again when she joins the cast.

The point is you don’t put spoilers in the title of an article. Give people a choice to not read it.

Sue

Sun 01/03/10 5:32 PM

Yep, spoiled it for me too. In a headline…really?

Diane

Sun 01/03/10 6:38 PM

It’s been ages since that episode came out. Give EW a break

Johnification

Mon 01/04/10 8:46 AM

Dexter isn’t on iTunes yet…those of us without Showtime never even had a chance.

Brooke

Mon 01/04/10 9:44 AM

Even if it’s not in the title, isn’t the news that Julie Benz is working on shows other than Dexter going to signal that she left? You’d basically have to ask entertainment reporters to stop reporting casting news in order to stay unspoiled. And THAT ain’t gonna happen.

Anitamargarita

Mon 01/04/10 9:59 AM

No. I will not give them a break. They put it on the f’n rotating window of “news.” If it was even just an Aushole report I would have managed to avoid it. EW totally sucks fat ones for this.

jem

Sun 01/03/10 6:15 PM

my thoughts exactly!! i’ve been staying away from dexter spoilers like the plague because i haven’t had time to finish the season yet. now it’s completely ruined thanks to this freaking HEADLINE! thanks alot. bad form ausiello :(

especially for us poor folk who don’t have cable and have to netflix the dvds!

Cheery

Sun 01/03/10 7:55 PM

I’m sorry, but are you serious?!? EW is an entertainment news magazine/website; Ausiello’s fricken JOB is to dig up and report spoilers!! WTF are you even doing here if you don’t want to risk reading spoilers?? Not to mention, depsite the fact that not everyone has cable/lives in the US, once the episode has aired it’s fair game to talk about it. Unfortunately, you just need to be more careful where you tread online.

imwithyou

Sun 01/03/10 8:04 PM

@Cherry – You know, not everybody can afford cable, which means they have to wait for a show to come out on DVD. Usually EW (and Ausiello) is pretty good about keeping spoilers out of the title. I, for one, wasn’t going out looking for a Dexter spoiler. I check EW all the time, and this is the first time I’ve ever actually been spoiled in the title. And yeah, I get that Ausiello DOES spoilers, but does he have to write them in the title? Couldn’t he have said something like “Dead Dexter star on DH” instead of saying Julie Benz’s name?

Jen

Sun 01/03/10 9:15 PM

I agree. It’s getting tough for those of us who watch HBO and Showtime shows on DVD to avoid spoilers (and I really try!).

Although I’m thrilled to hear that Rita gets killed, that character is SO annoying. I’ll look forward to it.

Julie Benz will fit right on Wisteria Lane, what with her boob job and Botox.

Cheery

Mon 01/04/10 12:25 AM

@imwithyou, I know not everyone has cable, I mention that in my comment. Hell, I don’t even have HBO or Showtime, but there are ways around that, I watch online. Some places the shows can be up in as little as a few hours. But my point is, once the episode has aired, talking/posting about it is not considered spoilers.

Actually, I didn’t have time to watch the finale until 2 days after it aired, but during that time I was prudent enough to stay off of imdb, here, any message boards etc, because I knew the end would get spoiled otherwise. That’s just the way it is, viewers have to take extra pains to avoid this information cause it’s going to be out, so the onus is on you to steer clear.

Anitamargarita

Mon 01/04/10 10:01 AM

Cheery, what the f we’re doing here is that it was on the rotating window of news. We clicked on it to tell EW that they are total AusHOLES!

James

Sun 01/03/10 6:22 PM

Im with you i got spoiled too haha, and i dont know how were suppose to watch it in a more timely fashion if we dont want to pay for showtime

Michael you’re killing me here!!! I have been in a holiday marathon of Dexter season 4 and was just about to watch the finale when I checked EW…only to have Rita’s fate revealed to me. Normally I agree that you can’t keep spoilers hidden forever but you gave it away in the freaking title and I have been actively working to avoid spoilers but still enjoy this website. In the future please keep details like this in the text of the article!!

Anitamargarita

Mon 01/04/10 10:09 AM

James, at least watch it LEGALLY. So I guess that’s what we’ve got to do – throw our integrity to the wind and watch pirated versions like “everyone else.” Or get spoiled. I don’t know about you, but that’s not much of a choice.

srsly

Mon 01/04/10 6:23 PM

anitamargarita: iTunes isn’t free, and it’s perfectly legal. Unfortunately they’re not always timely about uploads. If he wanted to watch it pirated he could have done so the same night it aired on showtime. In summary, stfu noob

cgpunker

Sun 01/03/10 6:40 PM

If it’s aired, it’s not a spoiler. Period. I thought they went above and beyond not talking about it for a MONTH.

People know they can basically find anything and everything online. Therefore, if you’re trying to avoid information, you really should tread carefully when surfing the Internet.

Mamafoxof3

Mon 01/04/10 12:40 AM

I don’t have cable, but have found ways to get to see Dexter in an-only-slightly-delayed manor. It’s not a spoiler if the show has aired. I didn’t get all bent out of shape when I heard about Rita before I could see the finale a day later. Yes, it spoiled it for me, but that’s my problem, not the tweeters and blog sites’ fault.

Johnification

Mon 01/04/10 8:47 AM

Except Showtime didn’t PUT it on the internet. It hasn’t been available yet. Still a spoiler.

Felicia

Mon 01/04/10 12:00 PM

How is it that you guys haven’t heard this already? I haven’t watched it yet either but heard about it almost immediately and it hasn’t spoiled the ending. You still don’t know exactly how she died or what leads up to it or how it will affect Dexter.

Buffy Freak

Sun 01/03/10 7:32 PM

Hey Jeff..guess wat…Rosebud is a sled and Bruce Willis is actually dead in The Sixth Sense.

Buffy FREAK – guess what. The Rosebud movie is older than your Mom, and the Sixth Sense was like, ten years ago. This was last month. You’re a total jack ass.

Little Timmy

Mon 01/04/10 1:37 PM

NOOOO!!! You ruined Citizen Kane for me

Buffy Freak

Mon 01/04/10 8:05 PM

Oh Anita…such a loser! Just how long is the world supposed to wait? Yes those examples are really old but undoubtedly there are a whole lot of people who have never seen them. The date YOU think is okay may not be okay with others. Should we wait for the DVD to be released? Or a few weeks after to ensure people have watched them? Just how long should the world stop to allow numbskulls like you to get around to watching the show. Pony up for Showtime or shut the frak up.

steve

Tue 01/05/10 5:30 PM

Right on, Buffy Freak. I, for one, haven’t seen The Sixth Sense, but now that I know ‘the big spoiler secret’, I might actually watch it.

Can you take it, Anitamargarita? Someone actually watching a show BECAUSE of a spoiler? Does it make your widdle head hurt?

It’s been said before, but not obviously enough, so here goes –

IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ SPOILERS, THEN STAY OFF THE INTERNET!!!!!!!!

PERIOD!!!!!!

AND DON’T BLAME OTHER PEOPLE IF THEY WANT TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING YOU HAVEN’T SEEN – THAT’S NOT THEIR FAULT.

/shouting

Dex’s Freaky Friend

Sun 01/03/10 9:25 PM

Soooo with you on this! Can’t believe it was in the frakkin’ title… no way to avoid it.